History, 1838–1856,
volume C-1 Addenda

which God has established,
through the medium of those appointed to lead guide and direct the affairs
of the church in this last Dispensation and I now turn the key in your
behalf in the name of the Lord, and this society shall rejoice and
knowledge and intelligence shall flow down from this time henceforth; this
is the beginning of better days to the poor and needy, who shall be made
to rejoice and pour forth blessings on your heads.

When you go
home never give a cross or unkind word to your husbands, but let kindness,
charity, and love crown your works henceforward; don’t envy
the finery & fleeting show of sinners for they
are in a miserable situation, but as far as you can have mercy on them for
in a short time God will destroy them. if they will not repent and
turn unto him. Let your labors be mostly confined to those around you in
the circle of your own acquaintance, as far as knowledge is concerned, it
may extend to all the world; but your administrations should be confined
to the circle of your immediate acquaintance, and more especially to the
Members of the relief Society. Those ordained to preside over and
lead you are authorized to appoint the different officers as the the
circumstances shall require.

If any have a
matter to reveal let it be in your own tongue; do not indulge too much in
the excercise of the gifts of tongues, or the Devil will take advantage of
the innocent and unwary, you may speak in tongues for your own
comfort, but I lay this down for a rule that if anything is taught by
the gift of tongues it is not to be received for doctrine.

Prest. Smith then gave instruction respecting the
propriety of females administering to the sick by the prayer of
faith, the laying on of hands or the anointing with oil and said it was
according to revelation that the sick should be nursed with herbs and mild
food, and not by the hand of an enemy: who are better qualified to
administer, than our faithful and zealous sisters whose hearts are
full of faith tenderness sympathy and compassion? No one. said he was
never placed in similar circumstances before and never had given the same
instruction and closed his instructions by expressing his heartfelt
satisfaction in improving
[p. 42]

which God has established,
through the medium of those appointed to lead guide and direct the affairs
of the church in this last Dispensation and I now turn the key in your
behalf in the name of the Lord, and this society shall rejoice and
knowledge and intelligence shall flow down from this time henceforth; this
is the beginning of better days to the poor and needy, who shall be made
to rejoice and pour forth blessings on your heads.

When you go
home never give a cross or unkind word to your husbands, but let kindness,
charity, and love crown your works henceforward; don’t envy
<the finery & fleeting show of> sinners for they
are in a miserable situation, but as far as you can have mercy on them for
in a short time God will destroy them. if they will not repent and
turn unto him. Let your labors be mostly confined to those around you in
the circle of your own acquaintance, as far as knowledge is concerned, it
may extend to all the world; but your administrations should be confined
to the circle of your immediate acquaintance, and more especially to the
Members of the relief Society. Those ordained to preside over and
lead you are authorized to appoint the different officers as the the
circumstances shall require.

If any have a
matter to reveal let it be in your own tongue; do not indulge too much in
the excercise of the gifts of tongues, or the Devil will take advantage of
the innocent and unwary, you may speak in tongues for your own
comfort, but I lay this down for a rule that if anything is taught by
the gift of tongues it is not to be received for doctrine.

Prest. Smith then gave instruction respecting the
propriety of females administering to the sick by the prayer of
faith, the laying on of hands or the anointing with oil and said it was
according to revelation that the sick should be nursed with herbs and mild
food, and not by the hand of an enemy: who are better qualified to
administer, than our faithful and zealous sisters whose hearts are
full of faith tenderness sympathy and compassion? No one. said he was
never placed in similar circumstances before and never had given the same
instruction and closed his instructions by expressing his heartfelt
satisfaction in improving
[p. 42]

Located near middle of western boundary of state, bordering Mississippi River. European Americans settled area, 1820s. From bank of river, several feet above high-water mark, ground described as nearly level for six or seven blocks before gradually sloping...

, Illinois,
JS began dictating what his journal simply
referred to as his “history.” (An earlier draft was begun by JS and
Sidney
Rigdon

19 Feb. 1793–14 July 1876. Tanner, farmer, minister. Born at St. Clair, Allegheny Co., Pennsylvania. Son of William Rigdon and Nancy Gallaher. Joined United Baptists, ca. 1818. Preached at Warren, Trumbull Co., Ohio, and vicinity, 1819–1821. Married Phebe...

assumed responsibility for the
project and was appointed as JS’s “private se[c]retary & historian” in December 1842 (JS, Journal,
11 June 1839;
21 Dec. 1842). Work on
this endeavor came to span eighteen years and included frequent stops and
starts. The longest lull, of over seven years, was occasioned by the Saints’
exodus from
Nauvoo

Principal gathering place for Saints following expulsion from Missouri. Beginning in 1839, LDS church purchased lands in earlier settlement of Commerce and planned settlement of Commerce City, as well as surrounding areas. Served as church headquarters, 1839...

followed by the challenges of
settling the
Salt
Lake Valley. After the death of Willard Richards in 1854, the project was brought to a conclusion in
Utah by
George A. Smith

26 June 1817–1 Sept. 1875. Born at Potsdam, St. Lawrence Co., New York. Son of John Smith and Clarissa Lyman. Baptized into LDS church by Joseph H. Wakefield, 10 Sept. 1832, at Potsdam. Moved to Kirtland, Geauga Co., Ohio, 1833. Labored on Kirtland temple...

in 1856. By that time the history had swelled to six
volumes and over 2,400 pages. It subsequently came to be known as the
“Manuscript History of the Church” (in The Joseph Smith Papers
it bears the editorial title “History, 1838–1856”).

As part of that
enterprise, “History, 1838–1856,
volume C-1 [2
November 1838–31 July 1842]” was begun on or just after
24 February 1845 and its basic narrative was
completed by 3 May of that year, although
work continued on the volume through that July
(Richards, Journal, 24 and 28 Feb. 1845; Historian’s Office, Journal, 3 May
1845; 3 and 4 July 1845).
Thomas
Bullock was the scribe for the volume, which contains 512 pages of
primary text, plus 24 pages of addenda, and covers the period
2 November 1838 through 31 July
1842.

26 June 1817–1 Sept. 1875. Born at Potsdam, St. Lawrence Co., New York. Son of John Smith and Clarissa Lyman. Baptized into LDS church by Joseph H. Wakefield, 10 Sept. 1832, at Potsdam. Moved to Kirtland, Geauga Co., Ohio, 1833. Labored on Kirtland temple...

Principal gathering place for Saints following expulsion from Missouri. Beginning in 1839, LDS church purchased lands in earlier settlement of Commerce and planned settlement of Commerce City, as well as surrounding areas. Served as church headquarters, 1839...

on the
4th day of February 1846. I had to revise and
compare two years of back history which he had compiled, filling up numerous
spaces which had been marked as omissions on memoranda by Dr. Richards.

I commenced
compiling the history of Joseph Smith from April
1st 1840 to his
death on June 27th 1844. I have filled up all the reports of
sermons by President Joseph Smith and others from minutes or sketches taken at
the time in long hand by Dr.
Willard Richards

&c. which was an immense labor, requiring the deepest thought
and the closest application, as there were mostly only two or three words
(about half written) to a sentence.” (George A. Smith, Great Salt Lake City,
Utah Territory, to Wilford Woodruff, 21 Apr. 1856, in Historian’s Office,
Historical Record Book, 218.)

26 June 1817–1 Sept. 1875. Born at Potsdam, St. Lawrence Co., New York. Son of John Smith and Clarissa Lyman. Baptized into LDS church by Joseph H. Wakefield, 10 Sept. 1832, at Potsdam. Moved to Kirtland, Geauga Co., Ohio, 1833. Labored on Kirtland temple...

and his clerks began compiling
a separate, extensive list of addenda to volume C-1. The Church Historian’s
office journal entry for 13 October 1854
noted, “TB [Thomas Bullock] engaged on history papers all
da[y] found many that will have to be inserted in
40 & 41” (Historian’s Office,
Journal, 13 Oct. 1854). Apparently these addenda represented some of the
revising and comparing of “two years of back history” with the “filling up
numerous spaces” Smith had mentioned in his 1856
letter to
Woodruff

. In support of that effort, the
19 October 1854 issue of the Deseret
News carried the following item that also explained why the
serialization of the History of Joseph Smith was being temporarily
interrupted:

The History
of Joseph Smith is necessarily omitted in this number; and from one to two
columns a number will probably be all that can be furnished for some time, as
the Historian has come to a period which requires hunting up many facts, and
preparing them for embodying, which the hurry of the times obliged
Elder
Richards

to pass over by simply writing on the margin, “note to be
supplied” (”History and Sermons,” Deseret News [Salt Lake City],
19 Oct. 1854, [2]).

At that
time, Joseph Smith’s history had been reported
through October 1840 in the Deseret
News.

The addenda to
volume C-1 presented here are labeled “Addenda to Book C1. By
Geoe. A. Smith

26 June 1817–1 Sept. 1875. Born at Potsdam, St. Lawrence Co., New York. Son of John Smith and Clarissa Lyman. Baptized into LDS church by Joseph H. Wakefield, 10 Sept. 1832, at Potsdam. Moved to Kirtland, Geauga Co., Ohio, 1833. Labored on Kirtland temple...

.
Octr. 18th. 1854.” They are in the handwriting of
Jonathan Grimshaw,
Leo
Hawkins,
Robert L. Campbell, and
John L.
Smith, all of whom worked under the direction of
George A. Smith

26 June 1817–1 Sept. 1875. Born at Potsdam, St. Lawrence Co., New York. Son of John Smith and Clarissa Lyman. Baptized into LDS church by Joseph H. Wakefield, 10 Sept. 1832, at Potsdam. Moved to Kirtland, Geauga Co., Ohio, 1833. Labored on Kirtland temple...

. These addenda provide
supplemental material for the period from
19 October 1840 to 15 July
1842 and consist of seventy-five pages copied into a separate ledger
that also contains a chronological inventory of material employed in compiling
the manuscript history. Many entries from George A. Smith’s “Addenda” were
incorporated under their respective dates into the text of the version of
Joseph
Smith’s history published in the Deseret News, a fair copy
identified as C-2, and the later account edited by B. H.
Roberts as History of the Church.

Among the
significant items included in the addenda to volume C-1 are sermons,
editorials, and records of events. Of particular note are entries regarding the
October 1840
creation of stakes at
Lima

Area settled, 1828. Platted 1833. Post office established, 1836. Many Saints settled in area, 1839, after expulsion from Missouri. Considered important settlement by LDS church leaders. Lima stake organized, 22 Oct. 1840. Church conference held in town, 23...

Located on high limestone bluffs east of Mississippi River, about forty-five miles south of Nauvoo. Settled 1821. Adams Co. seat, 1825. Incorporated as town, 1834. Received city charter, 1840. Population in 1835 about 800; in 1840 about 2,300; and in 1845...

Area originally part of Louisiana Purchase, 1803. First permanent white settlements established, ca. 1833. Organized as territory, 1838, containing all of present-day Iowa, much of present-day Minnesota, and parts of North and South Dakota. Population in ...

1 Nov. 1808–25 July 1887. Preacher, editor, publisher, politician. Born at Milnthorpe, Westmoreland Co., England. Son of James Taylor and Agnes Taylor, members of Church of England. Around age sixteen, joined Methodists and was local preacher. Migrated from...